Walking by Inner Vision Blog

presents

#The Evergreen Journal #40

for people who embrace

#Perpetual Job Training

Isn’t that an exciting thought?

I wanted a perfect ending… Now, I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.

Delicious ambiguity ~ Gilda Radner

The certainty we have is that we will change. 

Change is the one constant in our life.

I EMBRACE Change.

Sight loss brought about changes in me.

I seldom write about sight loss, blindness, or disability issues. Like most people, I have overcome lots of challenges in life.

I am not a survivor. I am an overcomer.

I consider it all job training. Every challenge I meet is job training for a future assignment at some point in my life.

My choice as a writer and artist who is a Christian is to focus on my particular creative and academic interests. That is where my calling is located and where I find my focus.

I am pleased to meet new friends I would not have known after sight loss in October 2007. I found a variety of fascinating writers and dynamic fine artists here and there along the journey. Our mutual connection is not due to anything physical but because I see the value in their writing and artwork. I look at what they create, which gives me more information than anything else. I ask myself, “What are they saying with their art or writing?”

I have acquired new and different abilities. 

The accomplishments develop slowly and thoughtfully. I have clearly defined role models, and I learn by looking at their work, reading their writings, and learning about their historical development.

On the positive side, I am an excellent listener. 

I try never to articulate a response to anything until I take the time to think it through.

I hear between the lines and every nuance when a person is speaking in my presence. I see and listen well to my entire body. I am a whole and complete person.

 What about friendships after sight loss?

Clarity and wisdom can develop over the years of experiences only if we are seeking God’s revelations as we encounter each person over our lifetime.

Friends can suddenly vanish from our life. Remember that when you respect and honor someone, they may never return those feelings to you. Be generous with people simply because you are generous and don’t expect anything else.

Though I was literally launched onto a new path, my life journey continued. I am still the person who loves art shows, theater performances, attending the symphony, dining with friends, reading and doing research from primary texts, shopping, and dancing. I am still the girl with stars in my eyes and joy in my spirit. I still want to discuss great books and listen to Mozart every day.

My heartfelt message today is that I embrace all of my life journey in the final months of my seventh decade.  I hope you embrace yours, too.

What is essential is to keep our hearts set on being the whole and complete person God created. 

Be Inspired

I created my blog, Walking by Inner Vision, in December 2009 because I wanted to share my thoughts about the importance of embracing changes as various events take place over the years.  

Looking over the past years of writing nearly 600 articles for this blog, I have insight into the importance of my focus on change over more than a decade of writing the blog.

Change is an abiding theme in my writing and the creation of my artworks.

When I lost my sight, my low-vision specialist told me, 

You will make art again. Of course, you will just do it differently. But you will still make art.

Dr. Paul Freeman

Sight loss leads to changes and new creation methods in every aspect of life.

As I experienced the uncertainty of a new way of living, my relationship with Jesus kept me on solid footing. I had hope. I am determined to regain my lifelong interests in creative writing and art as I continue to learn new ways. After fifteen years, I am still learning new methods and bigger dreams.

In my writing office, I have a sign that keeps me focused on what is sure so that I remember who I am, what I am, and why I am. I have a purpose and a calling specifically at this time in history. 

My handwritten sign reads:

For I know my plans for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

I recently gave several public presentations at four locations in four counties of western Pennsylvania. One memorable theme in my presentation to those who attended was my focus on a personal calling that we all have.

What is a calling about?

We have to seek God first, and God will help us. He will bring us to what our calling is.

As a fine arts and humanities professor, I always created specific assignments to help my students better understand our studies.

In addition to each class period, I gave the students handouts and outlines to guide them in their homework and studies of our course materials. Like my students, we also have assignments before we know our calling.

Assignments are all the different experiences God gives us along the way as we live out our lives.

From my earliest years, when I was working at every job I had, I was working on an assignment. I did not realize this at the time, but looking back to my earlier years from this vantage point, I can understand how each job was an assignment meant to help me learn something I needed to know. The many things we learn through our careers all tie together and make sense later in life.

We are perpetually in job training, and the changes we experience give us growth. However, my experience is that we do not recognize our calling for many years, much later in life. Therefore, I think God keeps the best until last because we need to learn to be obedient and follow Him.

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While the world changes, the cross stands firm.

St. Bruno of Cologne, founder of the Carthusian Order.

What I am reading this week:

The Cost of Discipleship,by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Book Cover: The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

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